Sunday, April 11, 2010

Lineups:

CMLL (MON) 04/12 Arena Puebla
1) Centauro de Fuego, Fuerza Chicana, Toro Bill Sr. vs Asturiano, Black Tiger, Crazy Black

- Nice mixing and matching here, should be good.

2) Ángel Azteca Jr., Ángel de Oro, Ángel de Plata vs Hooligan, Loco Max, Skándalo

- Always fun to see these teams work together. It's a bit surprising that Loco Max isn't growing his hair out, isn't it? He's due.

3) Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara, La Sombra vs Shigeo Okumura, Taichi, Virus

- Taichi just keeps dropping on the cards even though this is a loaded card.

4) Brazo de Plata, Místico, Strong Man vs Averno, Terrible, Texano

- Poor Mistico. Hope he doesn't have any plans on screwing over his teammates b/c Strong Man will squash him and Porky will proceed to eat him.

5) Máscara Dorada vs Dragon Rojo Jr. [CMLL SL]

- Now this will be good! Hopefully we get to see it soon b/c I'm curious to see how Rojo does in a big singles match. I expect Dorada to retain but stranger things have happened.

CMLL (TUE) 04/13 Arena Mexico
1) Bengala & Principe vs Artillero & Súper Comando

- I really wish Bengala would make TV. All I know is he was trained by Pantera originally and has gotten good reviews.

2) Fabián el Gitano, Leono, Starman vs Durango Kid, Puma King, Tiger Kid

- More build to the upcoming cage match I would assume. Starman and Fabian are definitely two guys in my danger zone. I think we can officially narrow the match down to: Starman, Fabian El Gitano, Sensei, Molotov, Angel De Oro, Angel De Plata vs Puma King, Tiger Kid, Dr. X, Euforia, Nosferatu, Bronco OR Durango Kid. That's 12 guys and everyone who has been involved in the mask ripping/challenges thus far. Not sure if they remember Starman/Bronco's issue and might just insert Durango Kid after this match.

3) Bam Bam, Fantasy, Pequeño Olímpico vs Pequeño Damian 666, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pequeño Violencia

- Now I'm convinced there is a feud going on here that has slipped under the radar. Bam Bam vs Pequeno Damian seems like the issue. Upcoming title match?

4) Rush, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Euforia, Sangre Azteca, Vangelis

- Some interesting pairings here. Rush vs Vangelis seems like such a natural feud if you wanted to do a quick hair match but I don't think that's in the cards. Should be by the numbers.

5) Shocker, Strong Man, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Taichi, Último Guerrero

- Maybe CMLL is secretly hoping Strong Man will injure Taichi?

IWRG (THU) 04/15 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dragon Fly vs Dinamic Black

- Dragon Fly was probably involved in that IWRG rookies show I watched but I have no idea which one he was. Guess we'll find out if BTJr can upload the match.

2) Guerrero 2000 & Héros vs Comando Negro & Eterno

- Heros/Comando Negro are always great together so this should be fun.

3) el Ángel, Freelance, Suicida vs Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro

- Should be the usual good match.

4) Brazo de Plata, Brazo Metalico, Hijo del Brazo de Plata vs Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000, Máscara Año 2000 Jr. and Chico Che, Ultramán Jr., Zatura and Bombero Infernal, Maldito Jr., Samoth [EdM Trios, semifinal]

- Oh my god... another fake MA2K kid. Just shoot me. Would really like to see Bombero's team win this but can't see the Brazos or TeaMA2K losing here.

CMLL (FRI) 04/16 Arena Mexico
1) Rayo Tapatío I & Rayo Tapatío II vs Apocalipsis & Bronco

- Rayos Tapatios on a Friday night show! That's certainly a rarity.

2) Bracito de Oro, Eléctrico, Shockercito vs Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito

- Holy shit... are we STILL delaying the inevitable? I don't know how many more combinations they can come up with at this point. Bracito either sits on Warrior or Warrior yanks his mask off. WE GET IT. FINISH IT PLEASE!

3) Diamante & La Sombra vs Blue Panther & Rey Cometa and Héctor Garza & Pólvora and La Máscara & Sensei and Atlantis & Inquisidor and Disturbio & Terrible and Cancerbero & Mephisto and Rey Bucanero & Semental [Gran Alternativa]

- See below.

4) Místico vs Felino

- This should be interesting on crowd reaction alone. Mistico was cheered big time this past Friday but it could be different against Felino who the crowd still cheers. I wouldn't be surprised to see Negro Casas get involved here somehow.

But of course the real main event on this night will be the much hyped Gran Alternativa. My favorite tournament of the year which is presumbly being done this early in the year to erase anyone's memories of last year's debacle where Semental was attacked by Okumura and Naito who went on to win the tournament for no reason at all in the low point of booking for the entire year. CMLL seems to have learned from their mistake this year and have been hyping a spectacular tournament to be split over three weeks with two seperate elimination rounds leading to a big final on Kids Day. Obviously I approve! Let's look at the teams entered and rate their chances:

Diamante & La Sombra: A 'C' level rookie teaming with an 'A+' level vet. Both guys have similar styles and will likely work well together. Chances: HIGH.

Blue Panther & Rey Cometa: An 'A' level vet teaming with a 'C' level "rookie". They teamed last year and went out in the first round. Based on the teams entered this year it would appear that may happen again. Still... I think this team could surprise some. Chances: MEDIUM.

Hector Garza & Polvora: An 'A+' level vet teaming with a 'B-' level rookie. The interesting thing here is obviously Garza was 100% tecnico until this past Friday. Now here he is teaming with a rudo. Que? This should clearly establish he won't be going out in the first round since the storyline will need to be played up a bit. Chances: HIGH.

La Mascara & Sensei: An 'A' level vet teaming with a 'D' level "rookie". Odd pairing here. La Mascara is always booked strong but tends to be the weak part of his team when booked high in trios matches. Sensei is really low on the depth chart and should be more focused on his Sunday feuds at the moment. La Mascara already went far in the first tournament of the year so this team shouldn't advance past the first round unless they get a really favorable match-up. Chances: LOW.

Atlantis & Inquisador: An 'A+' level vet teaming with a 'D-' level rookie. This will be the second year in a row Atlantis is being paired with a wrestler who rarely escapes the opening match even at Arena Coliseo. Gotta feel bad for the guy. Inquisador has looked alright in his few TV appearences but is clearly not a guy the promotion has any plans for at the moment so even advancing him past the first round would be a questionable decision. Chances: LOW.

Disturbio & Terrible: A 'D-' level rookie teaming with a 'B+' level vet. Even though Disturbio is the lowest ranked rookie in the tournament and Terrible doesn't have the star power the other vets have... I think this is the wild card team. Disturbio has family connections and Terrible makes the perfect partner appearence-wise. Disturbio has only made TV in Puebla though so it's hard to judge whether his ability is good enough to warrant a push. I just can't stop overlooking the family connections. Chances: MEDIUM.

Cancerbero & Mephisto: A 'C' level rookie teaming with an 'A' level vet. An interesting pairing. Cancerbero is currently in the position Mephisto was back in 2002 so the two will have much to discuss. They are both great catchers so keeping them around in the tournament would be beneficial to many of the tecnico teams. However it would seem odd to have Cancerbero win a tournament while Raziel keeps working alone lower on the card. Then again... Angel De Oro was briefly elevated last year. Chances: MEDIUM.

Rey Bucanero & Semental: A 'B+' level vet teaming with a 'D-' level rookie. Really pains me to say this but I can't see this team going far even though they are probably the best all-around pairing. Semental is a machine. He is what Ultimo Guerrero was in 1997. He'll be a star. It's just a matter of when. I'm not convinced this is his time although he'll have the best story going into the tournament after last year's debacle. Bucanero always gets treated like a second-rate guy so I can't see him going far either. I'd really love to see this be the surprise team that takes it all and it would set up a final that works (vs Shocker/Rouge) both in storyline and gives us the winner the promotion wants (Rouge). Chances: LOW.

So now I'll try to predict how the tournament will go although it still pains me to think back to how hard I tried to figure it out last year only for everything to be thrown into chaos when Semental got kicked out in favor of Naito.

Round 1:

Sombra/Diamante over Terrible/Disturbio
Mephisto/Cancerbero over Bucanero/Semental
Panther/Cometa over Atlantis/Inquisador
Garza/Polvora over La Mascara/Sensei

Semi-Finals:

Sombra/Diamante over Mephisto/Cancerbero
Garza/Polvora over Panther/Cometa

Final:

Garza/Polvora over Sombra/Diamante

It's not the result I want but it's the result I think will occur and will set up next week's tournament where I think Rouge and a partner will win. I mean... this is Rouge's tournament to lose. It's as simple as that. Sad but true. If the teams for next week get announced mid-week and Rouge is not included, I will clearly have to put up a new post and re-book the tournament. So to clarify...

Team I think will win: Garza/Polvora.
Team that may get a surprise win: Terrible/Disturbio.
Team I want to win: Bucanero/Semental.

Let's just pray no last minute substitutions for silly angles!

AAA TV (SAT) 04/17 Plaza de Toros la Concordia de Orizaba
1) Cuervo, Escoria, Espíritu vs Crazy Boy, Gato Eveready, Relampago

- Is Crazzy Boy still assembling the new Mexican Powers? He must be really picky. More bookings like this and I wonder how fast Crazzy will jump to the Perros. Other DTU guys are already there and he could do more of his style matches on those shows.

2) Jennifer Blade & Rain vs Fabi Apache & Mari Apache

- Don't care.

3) Extreme Tiger, Generico, Jack Evans vs Billy Boy, Decnnis, Ozz

- Should be the match of the show and hopefully the rudos are out to impress b/c a good match here might open certain people's eyes to their talent. Looking forward to this!

4) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Sabu

- Holy hell this will be a mess. This is such a style clash it isn't funny. The people who edit TV will have their work cut out for them.

5) ?, La Parka Jr., Octagón vs Electroshock, Silver King, Último Gladiador

- Black Warrior? Pimpinela? Mr. Niebla? Human Tornado? A random gimmick with L.A. Park under the mask only to reveal himself halfway through the match and attack his teammates?

6) Cibernético, El Mesías, Heavy Metal vs Hernandez, Vampiro, Zorro

- I have no idea what to make of this clusterfuck. I guess Vamp is returning now that he and Konnan are still on good terms and Konnan is in charge. That should last till May. Maybe he can put Mesias out of action b/c we know that would mean much more than someone like Decnis doing it or the Psycho Circus being responsible. My god... it's 2010 and Konnan/Vamp are still trying to headline. I really gotta dig up the old WON's where Konnan would write in weekly complaining about Perro Aguayo/Cien Caras still headlining in 1995 and being all pissed about it.

CMLL (SUN) 04/18 Arena Mexico
1) Metálico & Trueno vs Cholo & Zayco

- Whoa that's low for Metalico. I fear Trueno will never go anywhere with that gimmick even though he seems to be quite talented and easily outclasses everyone else in this match.

2) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Molotov vs Dr. X, Nitro, Raziel

- I presume more build for Molotov vs Dr. X here. Dr. X is another guy on my danger list when that cage match rolls around. The Delta/Raziel stuff here should be fantastic.

3) Fuego, Metro, Pegasso vs Arkangel de la Muerte, Euforia, Nosferatu

- Hey it's 1/2 the Arena Coliseo tag champs against seemingly the eternal #1 contenders for said belts! Have we even clarified if Fuego is still a champ or if he got stripped when he changed gimmicks? Actually, the title defense in December was post-name change so he should be okay. This is Pegasso's chance to stand out without Cometa around, let's see what he does with the opportunity.

4) Brazo de Plata, Máximo, Sagrado vs Ray Mendoza Jr., Shigeo Okumura, Taichi

- *yawn*

5) Shocker, Strong Man, Toscano vs Atlantis, Último Guerrero, Vangelis

- Might as well just finish the tercera and find another show nearby.

IWRG (SUN) 04/18 Arena Naucalpan
1) Héros vs Alan Extreme

- Looking forward to it!

2) Daga & Dinamic Black vs Comando Negro & Eterno

- And this!

3) Chico Che, Eragon, Jack vs Dr. Cerebro, Maldito Jr., Samoth

- When did Dr. Cerebro lose his hair last? Perhaps he's due for a match with Chico Che?

4) el Ángel, La Roca, Suicida vs Black Terry, Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Veneno

- This does not look good.

5) Canek & Scorpio Jr. vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr. & Pirata Morgan

- This looks worse. What's up with the horrible IWRG matchmaking lately?

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